Hollywood Under Reagan

The Movie President.

During the era of Hollywood's megabuck resurgence, a former movie actor was in the White House. President Ronald Reagan retained his fondness for his old profession, making frequent allusions to movies during his campaigns. One of his best-known lines was "Win one for the Gipper," which he spoke while playing Notre Dame football star George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American (1940). Reagan's political persona often resembled that of an old-fashioned Western hero. In fact, John Wayne's 1956 movie The Searchers was one of the president's favorites. So was The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), which he mentioned when praising acts of Korean War heroism. Reagan's Teflon-like media sheen was the envy of publicists, marketers, and advertising executives, all of whom benefited from his trademark use of sound bites and quotable quips. Perhaps his most quoted line was "Go ahead, make my day," which he...

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